Microsoft Teams: Build Custom Summaries

Key insights

• Custom Summaries: The video explains how AI-powered summaries in Microsoft Teams give fast, clear meeting recaps so you can catch up without reading everything.
  These summaries save time and keep teams aligned after long meetings.
• Teams Copilot: Copilot in Teams generates AI summaries and notes that you can shape with prompts and templates; it handles the actual summary creation rather than a built-in “create-summary” button inside a meeting.
  Use Copilot when you need tailored summaries or different tones and formats.
• Personal meeting templates: Teams lets you save meeting settings (attendees, lobby rules, recording options) as templates to speed scheduling and keep meetings consistent.
  This feature helps when you run recurring or similar meeting types often.
• Create template: To make a personal meeting template, open the Teams calendar, choose the New event dropdown, pick Create template, set options and roles, then save it for reuse.
  Templates streamline meeting setup and enforce consistent settings across sessions.
• AI templates: For custom summary styles, combine Copilot’s AI templates or custom prompts with Teams Premium and Microsoft 365 tools to get the exact summary format you want.
  Third-party AI integrations can also produce tailored notes if you need extra control.
• Limitations & tips: The video notes you currently manage templates at the user level and can add or delete your own templates; full in-meeting “custom summary” creation isn’t built into the Teams meeting UI yet.
  Best practice: use Teams Premium plus Copilot, test prompts, and store preferred summary templates in your Microsoft 365 AI tools for reliable results.

Overview

This article summarizes a YouTube video by Ami Diamond [MVP], who explains how to use and customize meeting recap features in Microsoft Teams. In the video, Ami — a man and experienced Microsoft community contributor — highlights how AI-powered summaries can speed up post-meeting follow-ups and help teams stay aligned. He frames the discussion around a feature often called Custom Summaries, and he shows practical steps for creating and managing templates at the user level. Consequently, the video aims to help busy professionals decide whether to adopt personalized summary templates or rely on broader organizational tools.

Moreover, Ami clarifies the current state of the feature as of mid-2025: while personal meeting templates exist for scheduling and configuration, a dedicated “create-your-own-summary-template” control inside the meeting interface is not universally available. Instead, he demonstrates how Teams Copilot and related Microsoft 365 AI tools enable customizable summary outputs that act like templates. Therefore, watchers learn both immediate workarounds and the recommended path for more controlled summary creation. Overall, the video balances practical tips and realistic expectations about what administrators and users can do today.

What the Video Demonstrates

Ami walks viewers through how to define a summary style and then save that style for reuse, emphasizing that the feature currently lives at the user level. He shows examples such as a concise Executive report, a speaker-focused summary, and a project update template, illustrating the varying lengths and tones these templates can produce. Additionally, he points out that users can add or delete their custom templates, which provides personal flexibility without requiring admin intervention. Thus, the approach suits individual professionals who need consistent recaps across meetings.

In his demonstration, Ami also contrasts the scheduling-focused personal meeting templates with the AI-driven summary templates available via Copilot and adjacent Microsoft 365 tools. He clarifies that scheduling templates save meeting options like lobby settings and recordings, while summary outputs depend on AI prompts and template design. As a result, viewers understand that two parallel template systems exist: one for how meetings are set up and another for how meeting content is summarized. This distinction helps teams adopt the right tool for each goal.

How to Create and Use Templates

First, Ami recommends creating scheduling templates from the Teams calendar when you repeatedly host the same meeting types; this streamlines setup and enforces consistent settings. He then shows how to name those templates and reuse them, which simplifies recurring scheduling and saves time for organizers. Next, he shifts to summarization: for customized summaries, he advises using Copilot or Microsoft 365 AI templates, where you can craft prompts and formats that produce the tone and level of detail you need. Consequently, you achieve clearer recaps even if the functionality does not appear as a single button inside the meeting UI.

Moreover, Ami provides a tip for managing personal summary templates: create, test, and refine them on a few meetings before depending on them for important distribution. He emphasizes that refining prompts and templates improves the AI’s consistency, so teams should iterate rather than expect perfect output the first time. He also notes that Copilot capabilities may require a Teams Premium license or appropriate Microsoft 365 entitlements, so licensing is a practical step to verify before rollout. Therefore, organizations should plan both technical setup and license allocation.

Tradeoffs and Challenges

Balancing customization with governance presents a clear tradeoff: user-level templates increase agility, yet they can lead to inconsistent summary quality across an organization. While individual users can tailor templates to their role, that freedom can create uneven outputs, which complicates downstream reporting and archival processes. Conversely, centralized templates promote consistency but may not reflect the nuance different teams need. Thus, leaders must weigh the benefits of flexibility against the need for standardization.

Another challenge involves accuracy and privacy. AI-generated summaries rely on accurate transcription and contextual understanding, and errors can introduce misunderstandings in official records. Moreover, integrating AI tools raises data governance and compliance questions, particularly for regulated industries that must control where meeting content and summaries are stored. Consequently, IT and compliance teams should test AI behavior and set clear retention and sharing policies before broad adoption.

Finally, cost and user adoption can be limiting factors: licensing for Teams Premium and Copilot, plus training time for prompt design, require investment. Additionally, some users may resist changing their workflows, preferring manual notes they trust. Therefore, organizations should pilot templates with representative users, measure time saved and user satisfaction, and then scale while adjusting governance and training.

Recommendations for Teams and IT Leaders

Practically, Ami’s video suggests starting small: pilot user-created templates for a few roles, refine prompts, and evaluate the quality of AI summaries before wider rollout. Meanwhile, IT should confirm licensing and enable appropriate Copilot or Microsoft 365 AI features while documenting governance rules for data and retention. This phased approach balances innovation with control, allowing teams to capture immediate benefits without exposing the organization to unnecessary risk.

In conclusion, Ami Diamond’s YouTube video offers a helpful, practical view of how to get meaningful, repeatable meeting recaps with current Microsoft tooling. Although there is not yet a single built-in “Custom Summaries Template” button inside every Teams meeting, the combination of personal meeting templates for scheduling and Copilot-driven AI templates for summaries provides a flexible path forward. Therefore, teams that plan license needs, governance, and training can adopt these capabilities to save time and improve clarity after meetings.

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